Killing Of Army Major Spurs U.s.-soviet Talks

March 31, 1985|United Press International

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State George Shultz met with Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin Saturday to discuss the killing of Army Maj. Arthur D. Nicholson Jr. and agreed to hold top-level military talks between the superpowers ``to be sure there will be no repetition of such episodes.``

Shultz and Dobrynin met at the State Department for about 1 hour and 15 minutes after which Dobrynin told reporters the Soviet military commander in chief in East Germany and the commander in chief of the U.S. Army in Europe and their representatives will meet to make sure such incidents are prevented in the future.

Nicholson, 37, was shot to death last Sunday by a Red Army guard in East Germany in what President Reagan called an ``unwarranted tragedy.`` He was given a full military burial Saturday at Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac from the nation`s capital.

The State Department admitted Nicholson had been taking photographs of Soviet military equipment in an area the Soviets had deemed off-limits but said the shooting was ``unjustified.`` The Soviets maintain Nicholson was caught red-handed in an espionage mission.

Mark Palmer, deputy assistant secretary for European and Canadian Affairs, said, ``We are very pleased with this agreement to have our commanders in chief get together to discuss this matter and to be sure there will s. During these talks, we touched upon the last incident . . .``

Dobrynin said he and Shultz ``agreed the two governments would establish contacts to discuss questions related to closing this entire matter and also to consider possible matters to prevent incidents with the members of the military liaison missions.``

Dobrynin said the talks will be held in Europe but gave no date. Shultz did not appear before the news media